WPTR

:"This page is on the current incarnation of WPTR on 96.7 MHz and that frequency's history. For the longtime home of WPTR and its history at 1540 kHz, see WDCD."Infobox Radio station
name = WPTR


city = Clifton Park, New York
area =
slogan = "Albany's #1 Christian Music Station"
branding = "Pulse 96.7"
airdate = 1986
frequency = 96.7 MHz HD Radio
format = Contemporary Christian music
haat =
erp = 6000 Watts
class = A
callsign_meaning = W PaTRoon Broadcasting Company (original licensee of WPTR, 1948)
former_callsigns = WCSF (1985-87)
WVKZ-FM (1987-90)
WWCP-FM (1990-95)
WXXO (1995-97)
WDCD-FM (1997-99)
WDCD (2000-04)
owner = Crawford Broadcasting
website = http://www.967wptr.com/

WPTR, known as "Pulse 96.7", is a Contemporary Christian music radio station licensed to Clifton Park, New York and serving New York's Capital District. The station is owned by Crawford Broadcasting, and broadcasts at 4.7 kilowatts ERP from a rental tower in Clifton Park, New York which is owned by Fitch Communications of New York (FCNY) and shared with WKKF and WABT.

The latest frequency to sport the heritage WPTR calls (longtime of 1540 AM and briefly on 96.3 FM), the station is the first full-time Contemporary Christian music station in the Capital Region and, in 2005, became the first station to broadcast in HD Radio, preceding WGY by several months.

History

What now is WPTR first signed on in March 1987 as WCSF-FM airing a Saratoga County-targeted Oldies format even though the signal covered the main cities of the Capital District well. In one of the first of the high ticket purchases that set the now astronomical prices for Albany stations, WCSF's ownership sold the station to WV Communications of Schenectady, NY.

WCSF-FM was the first oldies station on the FM dial in the Capital and was moving up in the ratings when sold to WV.

WV Communications already owned WWWD, an AM station in neighboring Schenectady. In March 1988, WWWD and WCSF joined in a Rock-based CHR simulcast with WWWD becoming WVKZ and WCSF becoming WVKZ-FM. The two stations would later split off for most of the day with 96.7 taking the "KZ-96.7" branding.

Changes in rock music as a genre coupled with a glut of CHR stations in the Albany market led ownership to change WVKZ-FM to an early Hot Adult Contemporary format in 1990 as WWCP-FM "(Capital 96-7)". Though set apart from several rival stations and a mild success, financial problems led to the sale of WVKZ (am) to Capital OTB (the regional off-track betting agency) and that of WWCP-FM to Jarad Broadcasting, owners of famed Long Island station WDRE, a move done in part due to the large amount of Long Island expatriates and college students in the Albany area.

In the Fall of 1992, several months after closing on WWCP-FM, Jarad Broadcasting launched the WDRE-based Underground Network, a progressive-leaning alternative rock format. Though a critical success in lieu of being a networked format, the format did not join any ratings success and on some occasions nearly did not show in quarterly ratings. These difficulties led Jarad to break from the network in early 1995 and flipped WWCP-FM to oldies as WXXO. With no FM oldies station in the market, the station entered the Top 10 in its first book, however this success would be short lived as Jarad began to sell its non-Long Island holdings.

Early in 1996, Jarad would find a buyer in WDCD owner Crawford Broadcasting, which took WXXO over that March and began a simulcast of WDCD's Christian radio format. In July 1997, the calls would change to WDCD-FM and the format would remain on the 96.7 frequency after WDCD split off and flipped to adult standards, reclaiming its heritage WPTR calls, at the start of 2000.

On March 16, 2004, WDCD and WPTR would swap formats and calls with 96.7 flipping to adult standards. This format would serve merely a placeholder as on July 15 of that year the current CCM format would debut.

External links

*fmq|WPTR
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